I don't feel quite as strongly about them letting AJ go as I did about Buehrle chasing the money, but all I can say is that if this team goes into the season intending to replace the 42 HR, 123 RBI, and 70+ walks that we got from Youk and AJ with Tyler Flowers and Jeff Keppinger, they'll have nobody to blame but themselves when they fall flat on their face out of the gate.

Usually I'm pretty optimistic about our teams, but this lineup looks like a built loser from the start.

Up to this point this has been one of the most disappointing offseasons I can remember...hopefully there is a plan to actually improve this team because they sure as hell haven't done anything yet. Adding Keppinger but losing AJ does nothing for the lineup. The bullpen hasn't been addressed at all. Or the bench other than Wise who is serviceable I guess. Yikes. Please make it better Hahn.

Up to this point this has been one of the most disappointing offseasons I can remember...hopefully there is a plan to actually improve this team because they sure as hell haven't done anything yet. Adding Keppinger but losing AJ does nothing for the lineup. The bullpen hasn't been addressed at all. Or the bench other than Wise who is serviceable I guess. Yikes. Please make it better Hahn.

Agree. I think it burns a little more because even the cubs are making some moves, Villanueva and Jackson, and we are standing pat. Maybe Hahn has been working on thing behind closed doors and keeping the media out of it, but as things look now, Hahn appears to be happy with the roster we currently have. Hope this is not the case though.

Agree. I think it burns a little more because even the cubs are making some moves, Villanueva and Jackson, and we are standing pat. Maybe Hahn has been working on thing behind closed doors and keeping the media out of it, but as things look now, Hahn appears to be happy with the roster we currently have. Hope this is not the case though.

I think there is likely one or two more moves that will be made. The Sox have been after a left handed hitter and a veteran right hander to replace Myers in the pen. I think the wheeling and dealing in MLB will begin now that many of the big free agents are off the board.

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The very existence of flamethrowers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, "You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done." -George Carlin

The name that keeps hitting me from the back of my mind is Bourn. The market on him seems soft (he won't command a gargantuan contract anyway), he's the kind of player the Sox seem to like, there have been murmurs about moving De Aza and he hits from the left side. They've cleared some salary, they could clear more by moving Floyd.
I just wonder.

The name that keeps hitting me from the back of my mind is Bourn. The market on him seems soft (he won't command a gargantuan contract anyway), he's the kind of player the Sox seem to like, there have been murmurs about moving De Aza and he hits from the left side. They've cleared some salary, they could clear more by moving Floyd.
I just wonder.

I would love to see the Sox sign Bourn and trade Rios. Bourn in CF, De Aza in LF, Viciedo in RF. Rios fits the mold of that corner OF that the Phillies are looking for. But I can't see the Sox being able to afford Bourn.

The Sox have been in the top 12 in pay roll every year since 2005. In 4 of those years, they were in the top 5.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by shoota

I'm not counting this homerun or his 3 RBI from today's game because of the game situation. I'm not counting his pinch hit solo homerun in a blowout win in Colorado. In my book, Crede has 2 less home runs than his statistics show, 4 less RBI, and one less walk (the one where he pinch hit for Uribe after coming in with a 3-0 count and taking one pitch).

In a market as large as Chicago, the White Sox payroll should be right alongside those of the Yankees, Dodgers, Angels, Red Sox, and dare I say Cubs EVERY SINGLE YEAR.

Oh come on, the Yankees and now the Dodgers are in another stratosphere, nobody competes with them in terms of money, that's silly, and considering the NYY and LA markets are both larger than Chicago, that makes a lot of sense. FWIW, though, right now the Sox's estimated payroll for 2013 is $1 M less than the Red Sox's and $30 M more than the Cubs. So it actually looks like they're fulfilling your wish.

The Sox will never get a TV deal large enough to compete with those teams. We share our market with an extremely popular team. That's the reality. The Sox have spent the money.

While that's certainly a fact, the Sox aren't getting the kind of money from local cable like the Yankees, Angels, Dodgers and Rangers are now.

But I wonder how much of that is self-inflicted? The Sox had a golden opportunity in 2006-2007 to kick themselves up to those ranks, and yet after a title and a 90 win season, Kenny had 50 cents to spend in the offseason before 2007.

It hasn't helped the way the team is marketed and the notion that management relies on attendance to spend money, when it's obviously the other way around in any entertainment industry, which MLB is. It's hard to fill the park when fans are repeatedly blamed.

Glad the Sox have finally listened on ticketing, but we'll see how much really changes over the next 2-4 years.

It hasn't helped the way the team is marketed and the notion that management relies on attendance to spend money, when it's obviously the other way around in any entertainment industry, which MLB is. It's hard to fill the park when fans are repeatedly blamed.

This self-persecution our fanbase feels has to be the most aggrevating thing about us. There's certainly a littany of reasons why some fans won't go to the park, but the bottom line is the Sox have spent the money and we just don't bother to show up. We didn't even average 25 K a night at the park last year, good enough for 24th out of the 30 MLB teams while the team still pays a Top 10 payroll for the better part of a decade now. Any neutral observer to this situation would clearly conclude that the Sox are the only ones holding their end of the bargain in this relationship. The fact that people, supposed "fans" of the Sox still think the team needs to "market" it to us is ****ing pathetic.